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Winter 2010

Features

Civility in Politics and Campaigns :: Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed '63, '68 is recognized by his smile and civility as well as his nonpartisan statesmanship. Fortunately, he is not entirely alone. by Larry Clark

Where Land and Water Meet :: For Todd Mitchell '97, the purchase of Kiket Island near Deception Pass meant the return of
a cultural resource to his people. For the other myriad residents of the Puget Sound area, it is another decisive step toward restoring a priceless resource. by Hannelore Sudermann

ESSAY

Understanding the "Civility Crisis" :: There is a reason why rude and loutish political talk shows dominate the airwaves—they attract huge audience ratings and advertising dollars. But is rude behavior good for democracy? by Cornell Clayton

Joe Fugere ’84—Feeding his interests

Joe Fugere opened
Tutta Bella pizzeria in Columbia City in 2004. A veteran of several
Northwest-based companies, including Starbucks and Taco Time, he decided
it was time to go into business for himself and produce true
traditional Naples-style pizza.

Today the south Seattle restaurant is filled with blond wood tables
and bears sweet touches like parchment paper pendant lights and brick
walls. Though it’s not yet 10 a.m., an applewood fire is burning in the
oven and trays of sliced mushrooms are waiting to be roasted.

Fugere comes in and orders a cappuccino over the heads of two
regulars at the coffee bar. As he walks toward the kitchen, he explains
that his is both slow food and fast food. In keeping with the slow food
movement, the pizzeria protects a food tradition by using fresh and
simple ingredients, including flour and tomatoes from Italy. It’s fast
because “All of our toppings are usually pre-cooked or cured to
perfection,” he says. “Then it only takes 90 seconds to cook a pizza.”

It’s pizza done the original way. So original, that judges from
Naples, the birthplace of pizza, have examined the business from
ingredients to oven and awarded an Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana
(VPN) certification. “We’re very proud of that. We were number 198 in
the world, but number 10 in the U.S.,” he says. “And we were the first
in the Northwest.”

The road to being a restaurateur took Fugere through some landmark
Northwest companies. After graduating from WSU, he moved to Southern
California and worked for Westin Hotels. A few years later, he came back
to Washington to journey into the executive ranks at Taco Time. Fugere
was one of the few non-family members there. Then he went to Starbucks.
“It was like getting a Harvard MBA,” he says. The executives were from
some of the country’s biggest, most successful companies including
Clorox, Pepsi, Nike, and McDonalds.

But after decades in the food industry, he was ready for change. He
thought he would venture into another of his loves, maybe architecture
or nonprofit work. A life coach helped him refocus. “She said, ‘You can
still enjoy architecture and doing nonprofit work, but your background
is in restaurants and you’re really good at it,’” he says. “So I
decided: pizza. Most Americans eat it and it ties with my Italian
heritage.”

Fugere found a Naples-based association that certified pizza-makers.
He traveled to Italy and spent several weeks working in century-old
pizzerias, learning to be a traditional pizzaiolo. Then he
returned to Seattle to open his first restaurant near the Beacon Hill
neighborhood where he grew up. Instead of advertising, he simply posted
his business plan in his front window. “People were stopping and reading
it,” he says incredulously.

On January 2, 2004, he opened his doors at 5 p.m. and “There was a
line all the way down to the corner.” He made nearly every pizza
himself. The dough had to be mixed in advance and allowed to rise over
days. He had prepared enough to supply pizzas for 200. “But by 7 o’clock
I had run out,” he says. When he stood on a table to apologize to the
crowd, to his surprise they cheered.

In the following months, he reached out to the neighborhood. “I feel
it’s important to tell people that from the day they start their
business to start giving back,” he says. “And giving doesn’t always mean
checks.” One of the first things he did was offer space to a local
Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. He also donated coffee, pizza, and
pastries to local volunteer groups.

Fugere also joined the Washington Restaurant
Association and joined the government affairs committee. “I thought it
would push me a bit,” he says. An issue popped up about sidewalk cafés.
“It took months. It cost thousands of dollars. And you had to work with
four different agencies,” says Fugere, noting that the complications
countered the mayor’s own vision of making the city’s core areas more
like Europe’s. “I met with all the city council members. I met with the
mayor,” he says. “I even spoke at a city council meeting.” In 2008, the
city council simplified the permitting process.

Fugere’s work on behalf of restaurants and his role in the community
have brought him national attention. Tutta Bella has won local,
regional, and national awards, and last August was named pizzeria of the
year by Pizza Today. That same month, Fugere met with
President Obama when he was in Seattle and in September went to
Washington, D.C., for the signing of the Small Business Jobs Act.

The awards, even getting to represent Seattle’s small businesses to
the president, are byproducts of tying in with your community, says
Fugere. “It’s about being generous with your time, your money, and your
people,” he says. “It’s participating from the very beginning. From the
day you hang your sign on the building, opportunities will come to you.”